Quick Trip to San Francisco

Everyone told me to go to Tartine while in San Francisco. (rumor from one of my friends was that they have the best croissant sandwiches outside of France).

Well, after walking all day I finally made my way to Tartine. It was a Saturday afternoon and the line was out the door, but it didn't take more than 10 minutes to get to the counter. I ordered a small bread pudding (it was a HUGE serving) and one of the toasted sandwiches. Have to admit that most of my focus was on the bread pudding (it had huge berries and slices of peaches).

I really like their corner location (it would be a great place to enjoy a coffee and pastry), but I took advantage of the one block walk over to Dolores Park and enjoyed my Tartine picnic on the grass.

After spending a day exploring SF on foot, I shook off the exhaustion of walking up and down hills all day and met some friends in Dolores Park (in the Mission District of the city) to catch an outdoor showing of the classic 80's movie The Breakfast Club.

The park was packed! Every spot was covered with blankets and groups of friends eating and drinking and generally just enjoying the night. Despite no room to move and long lines at the bathroom the crowd was in great spirits and really got into watching the movie (including both heckling and cheering the film). It was a little chilly that night, but the energy of everyone in the park made the evening really nice. Spending a night watching a movie, drinking wine and watching the fog roll in over the city just seemed to me like a perfect San Francisco evening.

I stayed at the Hotel Nikko for business. The location is central and convenient to transportation (it's near Union Square - which other than being central doesn't have too many positives. It isn't the prettiest area.

That said, the hotel was quite comfortable. I arrived early (around noon) and the staff was able to accommodate me with an early check-in. The room was nicely appointed: very comfortable bed, good electronics and the bathroom was quite nice (with a separate shower and tub).

I didn't take advantage of any of the other hotel features (room service, gym, etc..) so can't vouch for those, but I was quite happy with the room.

I booked this hotel at the last second and received an extremely good rate. Despite the reduced rate, while I was checking in I was upgraded to one of the available suites. The front desk staff really was quite pleasant every time I interacted with them.

My first though when I entered the suite was that it was unfortunate that I was only staying at the hotel for one night. Although the room had no view, the interior was quite stylish. The sitting room had a couch, a bright orange Lucite coffee table and a desk and TV. The bedroom was pleasantly minimalistic (no dresser and just a small TV mounted on the wall). The living and sleeping areas were separated by a large curtain - so if staying by yourself you can keep it open and enjoy the full space. The bathroom was stark white, but had nice amenities.

The Clift has a nice open lounge area on the first floor and a bar/club that was quite busy on the Friday night of my stay. There is also a restaurant within the hotel, but I didn't have an opportunity to sample it.

The Clift is the only Morgans Hotel group property at which I've stayed, but I was impressed and would look to stay there again on future trips to San Francisco.